Karl Rove will be hitting the political trail again, with an upcoming fundraiser for Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC).
Rove will headline the fundraiser in Raleigh on January 28. Back when Rove was a top adviser to then-President George W. Bush, he helped recruit Burr to run for the Senate seat that John Edwards vacated in 2004 when he ran for the presidency. Look for the North Carolina Democrats to use this Rove appearance to tie Burr to the unpopular Bush administration.
Burr is expected to be a top Democratic target in 2010. Burr’s state has become a swing state after years as a Southern Republican area. It was narrowly carried by Barack Obama in 2008, and in another key election that year, Democrat Kay Hagan unseated incumbent Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole with a nine-point victory. Burr’s approval ratings have been low in recent polls, but so have his disapproval ratings. It’s not that he’s unpopular, but many voters don’t have an opinion at all about him, which will make his fate largely dependent on the overall political climate.
